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Volume 27, Number 6—June 2021
Dispatch

Epidemiologic Evidence for Airborne Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during Church Singing, Australia, 2020

Anthea L. KatelarisComments to Author , Jessica Wells, Penelope Clark, Sophie Norton, Rebecca Rockett, Alicia Arnott, Vitali Sintchenko, Stephen Corbett, and Shopna K. Bag
Author affiliations: Western Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (A. Katelaris, J. Wells, P. Clark, S. Norton, S. Corbett, S.K. Bag); The University of Sydney, Sydney (S. Norton, R. Rockett, A. Arnott, V. Sintchenko, S Corbett, S.K. Bag); New South Wales Health Pathology, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia (R. Rockett, A. Arnott, V. Sintchenko)

Main Article

Table

Number of SARS-CoV-2 close contacts and case-patients in an outbreak in a church, by service date, Australia, 2020*

Date of service, July No. contacts† No. tested‡ Proportion tested, % No. cases Secondary attack rate, %
15 215 169 79 5 2.3
16 120 108 90 7§ 5.8
17 (2 services)
 173
 157
 91
 (1§)
 NC
Total 508 434 85 12 2.4

*SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; NC, not calculated.
†Contacts identified through church service sign-in records and staff lists. This procedure might slightly underestimate the number of contacts because some persons might not have signed in and some telephone numbers were illegible or invalid. 
‡Contacts were tested within 17 d (14-d incubation period plus 3 d) of the last exposure date. Pathology providers in New South Wales, Australia, routinely report SARS-CoV-2 test results (positive or negative) to public health authorities. This number would not include tests performed under a different name or spelling to that on the sign-in records.
§One case-patient attended 2 services on July 16 and 17. Because of the absence of additional case-patients on July 17, we have attributed exposure of this case-patient to have been on July 16.

Main Article

Page created: March 29, 2021
Page updated: May 18, 2021
Page reviewed: May 18, 2021
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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